Coat of arms stamps, 1892

The Ottoman Coat of Arms appeared as the central motif on the 1892 issue. This stamp was the first to be designed and issued during the reign of Abdul Hamid  II. It is highly likely that he had a key role in the choice of design.

20 paras stamp of the 1892 issue (printed by the office of the Dette Publique Ottomane, Istanbul)

At the very centre of a modified coat of arms and the dead centre of the stamp itself is Abdul Hamid  II, represented by his tughra and al Ghazi insignia.

The coat of arms has been modified to give centrality to Abdul Hamid’s tughra, but also for aesthetic reasons, given the constraints on space.

The centrality of the Sultan on the stamp is symbolic of the political situation at the time. The brief experiment in parliamentary democracy begun one month after Abdul Hamid  became the Sultan in 1876, which replaced the Tanzimat Era with the First Constitutional Era, was ended by Abdul Hamid  when he suspended the constitution and Parliament in 1878.

The First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy supported by the Young Ottomans, that began on 23 December 1876 and lasted until 14 February 1878. These Young Ottomans were dissatisfied by the Tanzimat and instead pushed for a constitutional government similar to that in Europe. The constitutional period started with the dethroning of Sultan Abdülaziz and enthronement of Murad V. Abdul Hamid II took Murad's place as Sultan following only a brief three month reign. The era ended with the suspension of the Ottoman Parliament and the constitution by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, after which he established his own absolute monarchy or sultanate.

The calligraphy and revivalist arabesque design features (unique to each stamp value) of the 1892 issue present an Islamic aesthetic that was wholly in keeping with Abdul Hamid’s Islamist state ideology.

Latin script was kept to the absolute minimum required by the Universal Postal Union. The calligraphy at the centre-top is in the script of Jeli Diwani, which make no consessions to readabilty other than to scholarly Ottoman eyes. This kind of calligraphy is distinguished by the intertwining of its letters and its straight lines from top to bottom. The diacritical marks and decoration are placed to make the individual words appear as one piece, a symbol to be recognised rather than words to be read. It does in fact read as - from right to left - ‘Postai devleti aliyeyi Osmaniye’, which translates as ‘Post of the Sublime Ottoman Empire’. The Diwani calligraphy is known for the intertwining of its letters, which makes it very difficult to read or write, and difficult to forge.

So, in the 1892 issue we see symbolically represented the absolutist monarchy and Islamist state ideology of the Ottoman Empire under Abdul Hamid II.

Ottoman coat of arms

Queen Victoria, trying to establish good relations during the Crimean War with the Ottoman Empire, admitted Sultan Abdülmecid I to the Order of the Garter in November, 1856. He was the first non-Christian ruler to be admitted to the Order.

The spiritual home of the Order is St George's Chapel, Windsor. Every knight is required to display a banner of his arms in the Chapel, together with a helmet, crest and sword and an enamelled stallplate.

However, the Ottoman Sultan had no coat of arms. Consequently an English officer of arms, Charles Young (1795-1869), was appointed to create a coat of arms for the Ottoman Empire. Young came to Istanbul and carried out research to establish features which would be suitable to the European arms tradition. He was assisted by the dragoman of the British Embassy, Etienne Pisani (d. 1882).

Like the crescent motif, the coat of arms is very much a product of the Tanzimat era and the associated diplomatic balancing act with European powers.

Abdülmecid I’s successor and brother, Sultan Abdülaziz was also admitted to the Order of the Garter in 1867.

George Housman Thomas (1824-68)
The Investiture of Sultan Abdülaziz with the Order of the Garter, 17 July 1867

The components of the coat of arms as it appeared under Sultan Abdul Hamid  II are described below.

The sun ornament around the Tugra stems from the resemblance, sultan and sun.

Tugra (Seal of the Sultan). The Ottoman Sultan was placed in the seat of honour above the State and his subjects. Alonside the tughra is an additional inscription which translates to 'muslim warrier', a title held by Abdul Hamid II. The tugra, that is to say, the sultan, as seen in the coat-of-arms is the sun lighting up the Ottoman territories.

Below the tughra there is an Arabic inscription: “'The ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Hamid, who puts his trust in God”.'

The crested turban on the upper section of the shield is a symbol of world dominion, representing the Ottoman throne and its founder Osman Gazi.

The flags - green was a symbol of Islam and represented the Caliphate. The red flag represented the military and secular aspects of the Empire.

Under the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, scales and weapons were added to the coat of arms on the 17th of April, 1882.

The weapons represent the military strength of the Empire

On the right-hand side of the Ottoman coat-of-arms, the following weapons and symbols were depicted from above, respectively:

- Spear

- Single-bladed hatchet

- Double-bladed hatchet

- Spear

- Sword

- Cannon

- War trumpet, armour or Shield

- Sword

- Iron mace

- Cannon balls

On the left-hand section of the Ottoman coat-of-arms, the following weapons and symbols were depicted from above, respectively:

- Spear

- Bayonet-rifle

- Single-bladed hatchet

- Revolver

- Şeşper (six-fold mace) or scepter

In addition, the following symbols appear on the left side.

- Scales of Justice

- The Holy Koran

- Statute books

- Cornucopia

- Anchor representing the navy

In the small group below the central shield, the following symbols were depicted on the shield:

- Zurna (wind instrument)

- Lantern

- Quiver

- Floral motif

- Medals (Nişans) right to left:

Nişan-ı Ali imtiyaz (Order of Honour) 1780* 

Nişan-ı Osmani (Order of Osmanieh) 1861

Nişan-ı iftihar (Order of Glory) 1831

Mecidi Nişanı (Order of the Medjidie) 1851

Şefkat Nişanı (Order of Charity) 1878

*It was revived on 17 December 1878 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. This was the highest order in the Ottoman Empire. 
© John Dunn.

Crescent

The tughra did not appear on the Duloz and Empire stamps (first printed 1865 and 1876 respectively), the design of which coincided with the high point of the Tanzimât era under Sultan Abdülaziz III. (Abdulhamid was crowned in 1876, but after Empire stamps were issued).

The tughra was considered old fashioned by the modernisers, not least of whom was Sultan Abdülaziz. The crescent and star offered a much more up-to-date symbol.

With the Tanzimât reforms in the 19th century, flags were redesigned in the style of the European armies of the day. The reforms abolished all the various flags and standards of the Ottoman pashaliks, beyliks and emirates and a single new Ottoman national flag was designed to replace them. The result was the red flag with the white crescent moon and star.

The crescent and star as an emblem of nationhood was very much a product of the Tanzimât reform era. Thus the designs of the Duloz and Empire stamps were products of Tanzimât inspired thinking also.

The crescent and star designs went hand in hand with Abdülaziz’s concern to progress the reforms started by his father Mahmut II, and continued by his brother Abdülmecit.

Abdülaziz was also the first Ottoman ruler to travel outside the Ottoman Empire on a State visit. He travelled to France and stayed in Paris as the guest of Napoleon III. Afterwards Abdülaziz travelled to London as Queen Victoria’s guest and on his way back stayed in Austria as Emperor Franz Joseph’s guest. He would have been well aware of developments in the western world.

Sultan Abdülaziz was not impressed with the design of the first Ottoman stamps, which he thought reflected badly on the Empire. After the Tughra stamps were put in use, he sketched some stamp patterns personally and sent them to the famous calligrapher Vahdet Sevket Bey who was in London at the time, appointing him to complete the designs.

The first Ottoman stamps had been printed in Istanbul but were seen as low in quality in comparison with the stamps of western countries. So postal officials decided to have the new crescent and star design printed in Paris as the Greeks had begun to do some two years earlier.

The stamps were impressed at the Poitevin printing house in Paris. The artist who prepared the stamps was Duloz and these stamps were named Duloz stamps after him.

Bearing a new national symbol and printed to the highest western standards, the Duloz issue was emblematic of the Tanzimât era.

Duloz stamp

© John Dunn.